When you think about me
by xOProcrastinator
Summary: To be invisible to your oldest friend. What could be worse? SasuOC
1. cleansing myself of you

_Authors Note_: haha. sorry about this guys.. I finally got around to re-vamping chapter one... It just bothered me a lot after I re-read it later on... anyway, hopefully you'll like it better now, and I'll edit my other chapters ASAP (sorry again...)

Disclaimer (round 2! XD): Tragically, I don't own anything pertaining to Naruto except for my OC Aogiri Kaiya... you can read about her on my deviantart account (wolfzgrl) because I'm too lazy to put it on here. xD Also, I don't own any of the song lyrics I post before the beginnings of the chapters; those belong to the very talented artists who sing/write them.

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_You took my hand, you showed me how  
__you promised me you'd be around  
__uh huh, that's right  
__I took your words and I believed  
__in everything you said to me  
__yeah huh, that's right_

_If someone said three years from now, you'd be long gone  
__i'd stand up and punch them out  
__cause they're all wrong  
__I know better, cause you said forever  
__and ever who knew?_

_Remember when we were such fools  
__and so convinced and just too cool?  
__oh no, no no  
__I wish I could touch you again  
__I wish I could still call you friend  
__I'd give anything_

_When someone said count your blessings now  
__before they're long gone  
__I guess I just didn't know how  
__I was all wrong  
__They knew better, still you said forever  
__and ever who knew?_

_I keep you locked in my head  
__until we meet again  
__I won't forget you my friend  
__what happened?_

_Who Knew - Pink_

* * *

"That jerk! That absolute little prick!" An angry girl stormed into her house, violently kicking off her shoes and stomping into to her room, completely ignoring the shocked and confused looks shot her way from her parents.

Silence rang throughout the house, save for the snip-snip-snip of angry sounding scissors. Standing by her bedside, a mutinous look on her otherwise pretty face, the girl was savagely cutting pictures from her scrap book, completely erasing the face next to hers as she quickly built up a pile of childhood pictures.

Her task finished a few minutes later, she stared at the pile, a triumphant look on her face. Gathering the pile of scraps into her arms, she tossed them out of her bedroom window, watching them fall down into the street below with a savage sort of satisfaction.

"Take that Uchiha Sasuke!" She hollered furiously into the air. Glaring towards the direction of the Uchiha compound a few blocks away before slamming her window shut. Pacing around the room like a caged lioness, Aogiri Amaya finally sat down on her bed, laying back and glaring at the ceiling. Most people would say she was calmly furious, like the lightning before the thunder. The few who did know her, would be able to see that the dark haired girl was very close to crying, something that rarely ever happened.

The reason for her tears was horribly simple and apparent to anyone who cared to look close enough. He was probably sitting in his room, calmly working studying for the Academy graduation exam. The reason was Uchiha Sasuke, and for the last three years, he had aggravated Kaiya to no end. She had doggedly tried to patch things up between them when he began acting distant. Sasuke, however, had remained calmly passive until Kaiya was nearly ready to strangle him.

Sasuke had been her closest friend for years now, since when they had both began attending the Ninja Academy in Konoha. About three years ago, when they were nine, after the genocide of his clan, Sasuke had begun to treat her with indifference, and Kaiya hadn't the slightest idea as to why. She understood his loss, and had allowed him his space, but the next time she tried to talk to him, he more or less bit her head off. All the young girl did understand, was that when they were younger, they had made a promise to be best friends for forever, and Sasuke had decided, for reasons unclear to her, to choose to give her the cold shoulder and only talk to her when absolutely necessary, and even then in short, clipped sentences.

* * *

After moving into a new neighborhood, closer to her father's office at the Police agency, Kaiya had been sitting in her room, arranging her stuffed animals when her mother had called her down to greet an old friend of hers.

"Minami! She's adorable!" the smiling black haired woman with dark eyes exclaimed as she embraced Kaiya as though she were her own daughter.

"Kaiya, This is Uchiha Mikoto; she was a teammate and friend of mine from the Academy." Mikoto said, introducing the woman next to her. "And Mikoto, as you know, this is my daughter Amaya."

"I've always wanted a daughter." Mikoto said, a wistful look in her eye. "My two sons are most definitely a handful." she giggled. "Sasuke is Amaya's age. You should bring her over when you come and visit, I'm sure they would get along wonderfully." Little did the two mothers know, the two would be meeting sooner than they could have expected.

"Of course!" Minami agreed, her mind already envisioning a wedding for her daughter.

Catching the suspicious look on her mother's face, Kaiya looked wearily up at her.

"Go on honey," Minami urged, nudging her daughter towards the door. "You can go play outside and explore our new yard. Mikoto and I will be having tea in here if you need anything."

Kaiya had cheerfully ran out of the room, happy to be outside in the bright sun as she went to explore the small orchard behind her house. She was attempting to grab a blossom off of a Phoenix tree when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She quickly whirled around to come face-to-face with a boy about her age. The calm, innocent little girl who had charmed Mikoto, vanished in an instant as he small hands balled into fists and a fire burned in her eyes. "How dare you! How dare you sneak up on me and trespass in my house!" She shrieked in a high-pitched voice at the boy with black hair and equally black eyes. He looked shocked for a moment before a mischievous grin found its way onto his face and he poked her again. She slapped his hand away, continuing on her childish tirade, determined to make him apologize and find the error of his ways. Finding he was not paying attention, she began to yell words that children shouldn't be saying, finding that they more accurately described what she thought of him. Hearing the commotion, her mother and Mikoto had went outside to find the boy with a bewildered expression on his face as Kaiya continued hurling rude words at him. After figuring out what had happened, the mothers had quickly made their children apologize to each other, much to said children's distaste.

Laughing lightly at the whole situation, Mikoto introduced the boy as her son, Sasuke. Shocked at this new information, Kaiya couldn't believe how wrong she had been when she pictured the nice boy that Mikoto had described, and she soon resolved to hate the young Uchiha for the rest of her life.

* * *

The resolution had lasted for about a week before her father had insisted that she go explore the village and maybe even meet some new friends. Despite her excuses for reasons not to go out, she eventually found that she couldn't deny how inviting the sun outside was, and soon found herself walking through the streets of Konoha; silver eyes widened in awe.

She had stopped to admire every store and see what merchandise was sold there before finding herself standing in front of the looming academy building. She peeked around the entrance of the fence to see a swarm of children who looked to be about her age standing around. Biting her lip, she slowly advanced to the group with a shy wave.

The group waved back cheerily, if not slightly hesitantly. Not feeling up to the task of introducing herself to everyone and memorizing their names, she instead made her way to the currently vacated wooden swing that hung from a sturdy looking tree.

She sat on the playground swing, slowly swing back and forth, allowing her feet to skim the sand below. She glanced up to see the Uchiha boy staring at her. "What?" She snapped in an irritable way.

His eyes widened slightly at being addressed by the girl, "Amaya-san was it?" he asked hesitantly.

Choosing not to correct him, she nodded wearily in affirmation, trying to assess the boy's intentions.

He nodded solemnly and extended a small hand, "I'm Uchiha Sasuke. My 'kaa-san told me I should be friends with you."

Ahh. So it wasn't even pity that had brought him over here. "Do you always do what your 'kaa-chan tells you to?" she asked, anger brewing in her like a storm as she recalled their encounter a few weeks ago.

He quirked an eyebrow and grinned mischievously, "Do _you_ always do what you're kaa-san tells you?" he asked as though that answered everything.

Kaiya scowled, repressing the grin that threatened to surface. "What's that got to do with anything?"

Sasuke shrugged in response and leaned closer to Kaiya before whispering in a conspiratorial tone, "Between you and me, my 'kaa-san really didn't tell me to be friends with you... That's just an excuse I made up so you wouldn't get mauled by Yamanaka-chan and the others." Seeing her unconvinced look he continued, "You just looked really lonely sitting over here by yourself.. I'm surprised you haven't made friends with Haruno-chan yet; you both are such loners."

Wrong thing to say. Kaiya stood up, silver eyes flashing and opened her mouth to shout back a retort, "You don't even know me." She announced, crossing her arms defiantly.

Sasuke's grin widened, "Exactly. That's why I'm _trying_ to get to know you. You know, being friends with you would be a lot easier if you'd cooperate." he said matter-of-factly before he tugged at her wrist, pulling the stubborn girl towards the group of kids and introducing her to every one of them.

After that day, the two were inseparable, becoming even more so as they began attending the Academy. They shared everything they learned, from kunai throwing techniques, to jutsus and chakra control. They got into silly arguments over who had the cooler jutsu, why the sky was blue, and which plant was poison ivy. (The latter argument resulting in both ninjas in training having to apply ointment to their itchy skin for weeks afterwards.) Although Sasuke was quite popular with the girls their age, Kaiya never thought of him as anything more than a brother, and never let the whisperings and feelings of dislike she got from the other girls get to her.

* * *

She wished she didn't know where things had changed, but she did. She had heard about the massacre of the Uchiha clan indirectly as she walked down the stairs one morning to hear her mother sobbing and her father comforting her. Hearing her mother sob, "I can't believe Mikoto's eldest son would do that...Everyone trusted Itachi...I can't believe he'd kill his own clan."

Eyes opening wide as the horror of the news hit her, she immediately bolted through the house, sprinting out the door and running down the streets pounding down on her as she increased her desperate pace, hoping against hope that Sasuke was alright. She stopped abruptly as the familiar compound came into view. She calmed down, convincing herself that her mother had been wrong, and that Itachi hadn't done anything. She came closer, her calmness disappearing as she saw yellow tape over the entrance to the compound. Steeling herself, she carefully slipped between the tape only to be greeted with a horror greater than what an innocent child could ever have pictured in her mind. The kunais and shuriken embedded in the walls splattered with blood, chalk outlining the bloody places where slaughtered bodies had lain. She backed towards the entrance, ready to bolt before she remembered why she came.

Eyes focusing on her feet, she started into a sprint again, following the familiar but now death-ridden path to Sasuke's house. Before she lost her resolve, she threw open the door, only to find it completely deserted. Worry and fear gripping her heart, she ran through room after room, finally coming to the room where Sasuke's parents had been murdered. She dropped to her knees, landing next to the outlines of Mikoto and Fugako. She looked around desperately for any sign of Sasuke's body. Finding nothing, she stood shakily, running back outside, tripping in the mud and becoming splattered with the mix of mud and blood and rain. She continued back home, running inside and straight into the arms of her parents. Noticing the blood and mud adorning the girl, Minami immediately guessed where her daughter had run off to.

Days later, Kaiya had found out that Sasuke had been the only survivor of the massacre and had immediately ran over to hug him the first day he came back to the Academy. in response, he calmly shrugged her away, and walked off without looking back. Heartbroken and confused, Kaiya decided to allow him his space. She became quick friends with the shy Hyuuga Hinata. Hinata had many friends, but few close ones, and soon Kaiya became her best friend. The shy girl confided everything to the black haired girl, and Kaiya soon found herself doing the same thing. Hinata was incredibly kind, loyal, and sweet with a seemingly hopeless crush on Naruto, the outcast of their age group. Kaiya felt safe telling Hinata all of her secrets, positive that they would never be repeated from her lips under any circumstance. After a month of silence from Sasuke, she tried again and again to repair their friendship, only to repeatedly get a cold response. Finally having enough of it, Kaiya resorted to cutting Sasuke out of her life and her memories, leaving only one picture spared from her scissors' rampage.

* * *

She lay on top of her black bedspread and fumed. It was better to be angry than to cry. However, the tears were horribly close as she absently held a frame with her favorite picture of her and Sasuke. It was their first day at the Academy and they had both sworn to be best friends no matter what. The promise had held until now. "Well Sasuke can eat his stupid promises." She announced to the ceiling. She certainly didn't care. A tear slipped down her cheek before she could control it.

She furiously wiped the tear away with the back of her hand, deciding to confide in someone she knew would listen and understand. She sat down at her desk, and started to write a letter to Hinata. Nice, understanding, sympathetic Hinata who would patiently listen to her vent out her anger and bitterness.

Dear Hinata,

You'll be shocked to hear of what I did just now. I cut Sasuke out of every picture he's ever been in with me. Except for one. It sounds incredibly selfish, I'm sure, but that's more or less what I was trying to achieve.

You know I told you how Sasuke and I have been friends since before we started the Academy, and how we promised to always be friends? Well the jerk broke that promise! He doesn't say anything anymore!! So here's to you, Sasuke! You broke your promise, so I'll break mine! I threw the halves of the pictures with him into the street. I hope he finds one of them.

I don't even know why he stopped talking to me. It's just like after his clan was killed... he completely shut everyone off. He's just become this cold, impossible asshole who doesn't even acknowledge my existence anymore! And as much as I hate to admit it... It hurts. It hurts to be invisible to your oldest friend...It hurts that we don't talk anymore... That I have no one to compare my jutsu with and get into stupid arguments with. How could he do that? Just shut me out?! I still don't even know what completely unforgivably wrong thing I did to instigate this horrible behavior! So now he's erased from my scrapbook. Take that Uchiha Sasuke!

Sorry... I'm probably sounding incredibly self-absorbed. It's just that I feel so upset and frustrated! I'm so glad I have you to talk to Hinata, you know that right? I don't think I could have gotten through these past three years without you. When Naruto finally realizes he's in love with you, he better understand how incredibly lucky he is to have the heart of someone so kind and understanding! You're my best friend, Hinata, and I wanna thank you for that.

So how _are_ things going with dead last?

Kaiya

Sealing the envelope, she walked downstairs and out of the house to bring the letter to the post office. She resolved to practice the new jutsu she was learning after delivering the letter, reasoning that there were better things she could do with her time than sulk over an idiotic boy.

However, the fates seemed to be conspiring against her. When she walked out of her house, she saw, to her vindictive satisfaction, a black haired boy bending over to pick up a piece of a picture, his eyes displaying shock, while the rest of his face remained blank. Kaiya set her teeth, and walked past him.

Uchiha Sasuke, having finished studying for the Academy exam tomorrow, decided to walk over to the market and buy some food for his dinner. Rubbing his dark eyes, he had stepped out of the compound, walking a few blocks before going past the Aogiri household, only to find a pile of picture scraps blowing around in the wind.

"Aogiri!" Kaiya pointedly ignored his call as she walked faster.

"Amaya!" he tried again. "Dammit Kaiya, get back here!"

Setting her face into a mask of indifference, she turned around.

"Damn it Kaiya, what do you think you're doing?"

"Getting rid of some garbage." she replied coolly. Satisfied with the frown tugging his mouth, she smirked inwardly. "Excuse me Uchiha... I have to deliver a letter and practice for the graduation exams tomorrow." With that, she walked off, leaving the Uchiha standing there.

Sasuke watched her walk away. He couldn't help it. He recalled the hurt expression in her eyes earlier this morning after he insulted her again by ignoring her. But how could he have pushed her far enough to completely cut him out of her life? He didn't understand. She had always forgiven him, put a cheerful face over the hurt she felt. Hell, her name, Kaiya, **meant** forgiveness.

He shook his head, wondering whether he should be angry at her for cutting him out, angry at himself for caring, or angry at the world on a general principle. Seething, he decided that he had enough anger for all three, and made himself turn around and take a different route to the market, not even noticing that he still clutched a picture of them in his clenched fist.

Kaiya noticed though, as she turned around. She tried to tell herself that she was glad he was upset. She had nothing to prove to Sasuke, but making him speechless with anger had been extremely satisfying. She only wished she didn't feel like crying.

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Authors note: Thanks for reading this (especially if you're a reader who was loyal to this story before I decided to edit some plot aspects xD) 


	2. of uncooperative vegetables

AN: Chapter 2... yeah.. not a lot to say.. again, I don't own the lyrics or Kishimoto-sama's characters.

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Of all the things I've believed in  
_I just wanna get it over with  
__Tears form behind my eyes, but I do not cry..  
__counting the days to pass me by  
__I've been searching deep down in my soul  
__words that I'm hearing are starting to get old  
__feels like I'm starting all over again  
__Last three years were just pretend_

_and I said goodbye to you..  
__goodbye to everything that I knew..  
__you were the one I loved  
__the one thing I tried to hold onto... _

_I used to get lost in your eyes..  
__And it seems that I can't live a day without you.  
__closing my eyes and you chased my thoughts away  
__to a place where I am blinded by the light  
__but it's not right. _

_-Goodbye to you by Michelle Branch_

Finishing his trip to the market, Sasuke returned home, still in a dark mood. He marched around the house, in what many would call, a childish temper tantrum. "Just who does she think she is!!" He raged to the empty mansion, still brooding over the easy way Kaiya had dismissed him.

Onyx eyes flashing, he resorted to taking his anger out on the food he was preparing as he proceeded to chop various vegetables for a salad. As he continued his chopping, he gradually felt his annoyance slipping away. After all, why should he give a damn? He had avoided the Aogiri girl like a plague for the last three years. Learning new routes to the deserted Uchiha compound, using the skills he was taught at the Academy to quickly change direction if he saw her coming. And if he was forced to come in contact with her, he easily condensed their conversations by holding the same passive look over his face and tone of voice, and speaking in shorter sentences than usual.

Realizing his evasion techniques sounded more like running away from something he was too afraid to face up to, he sneered at the tomato in front of him, cutting into it with a particularly violent thrust of the knife, leading to some of the tomato juice squirting onto his shirt. He glared at the unruly tomato as though today's events were the vegetables fault, and then at the unsightly spot on his shirt. He slammed the knife down on the kitchen counter before stomping off to his room to change shirts.

Exchanging his now soiled shirt with a new one that looked identical, the Uchiha couldn't help but remember the lonely and forlorn looks displayed in Kaiya's eyes throughout the years after a 'conversation' with him. Shoving his conscience aside as he always did in these types of situations, Sasuke grunted as he walked back into the kitchen, his footsteps echoing in the empty house.

The simple echoing silence of the deserted house would be enough to drive any normal person up the wall in a matter of weeks. When asked why he didn't just move into an apartment, Sasuke simply shrugged and said he liked the solitude. Although this wasn't far from the truth, there were other reasons why the young Uchiha chose to stay in this blood-stained house. It wasn't that he couldn't afford to move into an apartment, quite the contrary actually; he had been left as the financial heir of all the Uchiha clan's holdings. The primary reason for Sasuke's stationary habits were that the house simply contained too many memories to just leave it. (I know what you're thinking... Sasuke... sentimental... yeah right. Well let's just say there are some things in life that are too precious to let go of, no matter how cold of an exterior you might have...) Not all the memories were good ones, quite a few were nightmarish... but they were memories nonetheless.

He returned to the task of preparing his lunch silently; reviewing the Bunshin no jutsu in his mind. Sasuke was graduating at the top of his Academy class, and he couldn't help but wonder who he was going to be stuck with in his team for the rest of his genin career. _"Oh God... not Ino..._" he thought suddenly, cringing at the mental picture of the platinum blonde girl draping herself over his shoulders in classes. He could only imagine the horrors he'd experience on missions with her... _"She'd probably **molest** me."_ His eye twitched at the thought as he shook his head to stop that particular train of thought. Mentally going through the list of people in his class, Sasuke finally reached the conclusion that it would be better if he was the only one on a team.

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A few months after the slaughter of the Uchiha clan, Kaiya made her way into the Academy classroom at the time she usually did. She walked into the room to find she wasn't alone. Sasuke sat in his seat, seemingly absorbed in a book about shuriken throwing techniques. Sitting down in her seat next to him, she glanced over at the black haired boy. The boy next to her stiffened as he became aware of her next to him. Her heart gave a pang as she realized Sasuke was making it very obvious that he was ignoring her as he doggedly stared at the book, not even glancing at her to acknowledge her. She tilted her chin a fraction of an inch, deciding that she would not allow him the satisfaction of him seeing her upset. Instead, she picked up her textbook and decided to read ahead.

When their sensei took them outside to work on a new jutsu he had begun teaching them that week, Kaiya had walked out with Hinata as Sasuke walked out followed by his entourage of fangirls. She scowled and glared at the ground. Hinata tore her gaze away from Naruto who was walking alone to look at her friend. "You sure you're all right Kaiya?" she asked, "You look like you're going to strangle someone."

"I **feel** like I'm going to strangle someone," Kaiya replied, sending a meaningful glare in the direction of the Uchiha boy. "But I practiced this jutsu all night, and when I upstage him at it, we'll see who's 'top in class'."

A frown tugged at Hinata's mouth, "Are you mad at him too now?" she questioned, "I thought he was being the insufferable one."

Kaiya sighed, "Not really mad... Just confused. He still hates me and I'm not sure why."

The class stopped their procession into the courtyard as their sensei turned towards them, "Okay... Naruto why don't you go first?" he suggested.

Naruto nodded, a bright grin on his face as he prepared to do the jutsu. "Concentrate now..." Their sensei reminded the energetic blonde.

_"Naruto-kun..._" Hinata thought, trying to telepathically send him the ability to pull off the jutsu.

After a few minutes, when nothing happened, their sensei sighed.. "...Keep trying, Naruto." he suggested, glancing over the student population. "Sasuke...Let's see it."

Sasuke took his place in the center, concentrating his chakra to the cheers of his many fangirls, while Kaiya tried to send curses his way.. "_Come on.. Just make him mess up! Just once!! Please, Kami-sama! This is the only time I've ever actually wanted something this bad! Well...besides that one time I asked for Ami to get chickenpox...but nothing happened then, so you still owe me!!_" Kaiya thought desperately.

A poof of smoke appeared, and where Sasuke had been standing a few minutes earlier, an almost-exact replica of their sensei had appeared. The only difference was the eye color... The replica's eyes still held Sasuke's black eyes, while their sensei's eyes were blue. "Great job, as usual Sasuke!" their sensei congratulated, as there was another poof of smoke and Sasuke re-appeared and walked back to his spot in the circle as a mob of girls crowded around to congratulate him, while Naruto and Kaiya glared. "Ok Sakura.. Let's see your henge no jutsu.."

The process went on for awhile before Kaiya was the only one left. "Okay Kaiya, you're turn." Their sensei said in an amiable tone of voice.. _"I can totally do this!"_ Kaiya reassured herself.. _"Sasuke was the best one out of everyone else...but I **know** I can even get the eye color right!" _Performing the hand seals, a poof of smoke appeared, and a perfect mirror image of their sensei stood where Kaiya had moments before. "Amazing!" The sensei praised, as a smirking Kaiya reappeared.

"That was really good, Kaiya!" "I can't believe you did better than Sasuke-kun!" "You gotta show me how you did it!" Even Sasuke came over to her and told her, his voice rather emotionless, that she had done well. He didn't look at her while he said it, but instead kept his gaze fixed over her shoulder, and she could tell that he hadn't wanted to say it, and had only done it for the sake of good sportsmanship.

That hurt more than a slap would have, and Kaiya's bubble of happiness that she had been enjoying suddenly seemed to have been popped and deflated.

That's how life went for the rest of their academy years. The two ninjas in training had a power struggle going for the title of 'top in class'. As their rivalry wore on, Kaiya would attempt to make peace. Every once in awhile, Kaiya would try to talk to him, and he would brush her off. With an admirable doggedness, she kept at it. As she told Hinata, she had very few friends she could trust, and she refused to give up one of the best without a fight. Still, the attempts at friendly conversation came less and less frequently. She couldn't work up the motivation to try only to be looked through as though she were as boring and generally useless as a wall.

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"Kaiya, do you want to talk?" Her mother asked as she pushed open the door to her daughter's room, to find said daughter glaring holes into the ceiling. Kaiya shook her head in response. "It's Sasuke again isn't it?" Minami asked with a small sigh as she sat down next to her daughter. Not giving an answer, Kaiya merely continued glaring at the ceiling, pretending it was Sasuke's head. "Your father and I saw the pictures..." Minami tried again.

"I'm not a mental case, if that's what you're worried about." Kaiya responded, turning towards her mother.

Minami looked at her daughter, surprised to find a rebellious tear falling down her cheek. "Why is he such a jerk?! Why can't he just **acknowledge** me?!" the young girl cried, grabbing a pillow from behind her and screaming into it in frustration. Minami rubbed her daughter's back soothingly, "Well... sometimes people who lose people close to them need time to heal..."

"He must need a lot of time." Kaiya scoffed, recalling how the last three years had seemingly dragged on.

A small smile tugged Minami's lips, "Bigger wounds do seem to need more time..."

Kaiya sighed, blowing a strand of bangs out of her face as she flopped back onto her bed. "I guess."

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The next morning came quickly, as Kaiya shuffled towards the Academy with Hinata, her excitement about finally graduating dampened by yesterday's events.

Pearl white orbs turned to work worriedly at her companion. "Kaiya?" Hinata asked quietly, drawing her best friend out of her brooding thoughts of Sasuke.

"Mm?" Kaiya asked, bringing her attention to the timid girl.

"You just seem distracted is all..."

Kaiya shrugged in response, looking up at the bright blue sky. "It's nice out today. Perfect weather for graduating, right?" She said, a bright grin across her features.

Not fooled by her friend's attempts at changing the subject, a frown tugged at Hinata's mouth, "You did the right thing... you know." she started, "I mean with Sasuke-san..."

The smile left the silver-eyed girl's face, as she sighed. "I guess. Let's hurry up...Maybe you'll be able to catch Naruto on the way into class!" she said, the grin re-appearing.

* * *

AN: yeah.. I think I liked the last chapter better.. -sweatdrop- anyway.. i'm trying to think of a way to skip from the first day of being genins (the explanatory meeting from Iruka) to when Sasuke left.. and I really need suggestions.. please help : ( xD 


	3. time flies

AN: chapter three haha, I had trouble with the time transition thing.. -sweatdrops- so if you guys have any better ideas, I'd be grateful and I'd probably end up changing the chapter to be better written xDDD

As usual I own only the plot and Kaiya.. and xMendoukusai owns Natsu and Kenta.. and the lyrics belong to the music artist, and the other characters belong to kishimoto-sama

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_There's a message in the wild and I'm sending you this signal tonight..  
You don't know how desperate i've become and it looks like I'm losing this fight..  
In your world I have no meaning though I'm trying not to understand..  
And it's my heart that's breaking down this long distance line tonight. _

_I ain't missing you at all.. (missin you)  
__Since you've been gone away..  
__I aint' missin you.. (missin you)  
__no matter what my friends say.. _

_And there's a message that I'm sending out  
__like a telegraph to your soul..  
__If I can't fix this distance,  
__stop this heartbreak overload!_

_-Missing you by Tyler Hilton_

"This is troublesome." Shikamaru announced, sitting down behind Hinata and Kaiya.

"A-Aren't you excited t-though?" Hinata asked.

"Tch, it just means more responsibilities." Shikamaru grumbled.

"You're so lazy!" Kaiya scolded.

Before Shikamaru could respond, two kunoichi burst into the room. "I win again Sakura!" The blonde one announced, as a vein pulsed in her companion's forehead. "My toe entered the classroom a centimeter before yours did!" The pink haired one defended.

"There they go again..." Shikamaru muttered before folding his arms and resting his head there.

Kaiya shook her head, her gaze wandering around the classroom. "_Nara Shikamaru; laziest genin in Konoha... but admittedly brilliant. Akimichi Chouji; eats a lot... and he ate most of my lunch one time when I offered to share with him. He's good with his taijutsu though. Yamanaka Ino; Sasuke-teme's fangirl. She has a scary mind transfer jutsu though... Inazuka Kiba; Easy to agitate... He has a superiority complex.. but he's pretty talented at the same time. Aburame Shino; He doesn't talk a lot.. and he has a weird fetish for bugs... He doesn't talk a lot, so I don't have many stats on him... Itou Kenta; a lot like Kiba actually... only more of a pain in the butt. Hyuuga Hinata; she's really shy, but if she'd gain more confidence in herself she'd easily be the most talented kunoichi here._" At this, Kaiya shifted in her seat to get a better look around the room. _"Uzumaki Naruto... dead last. And yet he still wants to be Hokage. Wazuka Natsu; Pretty close to dead last grade-wise. Although she does have an amazing talent with ninjutsu. Haruno Sakura; scary as hell, but she's nice as long as you don't get on her bad side... She doesn't seem to have any particular talents though as far as I can tell, but she's book smart. Uchiha Sasuke..._" Her gaze lingered on him for awhile, before he became aware of it, and turned to look at her.

_"What the hell..._" Sasuke thought, his gaze locking with hers before he turned back towards the front, continueing to brood.

"No! I'm going to sit next to Sasuke-kun!" "First come, first serve!" "I was here before you were!" A group of girls had surrounded the area next to Sasuke began to shout. Amidst the growling and bickering of the girls, Naruto managed to slip past and land on the desk in front of Sasuke, glaring at him. Even as the class watched, sparks began to shoot between their eyes, until Kenta who was sitting in front of the boys, absorbed in his own conversation, leaned back and bumped his elbow into Naruto.

"Oh. My. God." Kaiya muttered burying her head in her hands to try and get rid of the image plastered in her mind.

The rest of the class was silent as what was happening finally registered in the Sasuke and Naruto's head and they quickly broke apart gagging from the contact of each others lips. "NARUTO I'LL KILL YOU!" Sasuke vowed as he clutched his throat, gagging.

"Naruto!" Sakura growled, cracking her knuckles as the blonde boy turned to look at the girls who all held death looks in their eyes.

_"Naruto-kun..._" Hinata thought, shaking her head.

---

"Starting today you're all official ninjas..." Iruka began soon after Naruto had been beaten to a pulp. "but you are all still new Genins. It's going to get harder from here. You all will be in a group of three where you will accomplish missions under a Jounin teacher. We've arranged the groups such that overall abilities are equivalent. I will now announce them."

"... Team 7," Iruka continued, "Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura... and Uchiha Sasuke." He cleared his throat before continueing.. "Team 8, Inazuka Kiba, Aburame Shino, and Hyuuga Hinata. Team 9, Itou Kenta, Aogiri Amaya, and Wazuka Natsu. Team 10, Yamanaka Ino, Akimichi Chouji, and Nara Shikamaru."

Most of the class grumbled about their newly appointed teammates, as Iruka continued to speak, "Class dismissed after a twenty minute break used for you to get to know your teammates better before you meet you new Jounin teachers."

---

"Kenta you asshole!" Natsu shrieked as she fell face-first into the ground, causing the brown haired boy to chuckle and Kaiya to sweatdrop. Having a dreading feeling that this is how the rest of her genin days were going to go, Kaiya slumped against a tree.

---

"Are you coming over today?" Sasuke asked, shifting the backpack on his shoulders.

"I dunno... I have a lot of homework from class... Our sensei gave us an assignment to arrange a flower bouquet.." Kaiya said, her eyebrows pulling together.

"'Kaa-san's making dango though..." Sasuke wheedled, a grin on his face, knowing his best friend's weakness for the sweet dumpling.

"Dango?" Kaiya asked, face brightening, "Race ya to your house!" She announced taking off at a sprint.

The energetic duo arrived at the Uchiha compound panting and out of breath. "Ohayo Sasuke-chan, Kaiya-chan!" Sasuke's uncle and aunt greeted as the two ran past, giving waves to the elderly couple.

"Ha! I win!" Sasuke announced.

"My toe totally crossed into the kitchen before yours did!" Kaiya exclaimed.

"Suuuure.." Sasuke said sarcastically.

Mikoto chuckled at the antics of the two children before offering them both plates of odango. "Itachi's in the back of the house if you want to have him teach you any new shuriken techniques or jutsus." She suggested with a smile.

"Arigato Mikoto-chan!" Kaiya exclaimed before dragging sasuke outside to find Itachi. The older Uchiha boy was outside sitting on the porch, cleaning his weapons. "Itachi-san!" she called with an excited wave. The dark haired male looked up and turned around to find the two energetic kids coming towards him. "Need another lesson?" He asked grinning.

"can you give us one?" Sasuke asked. "if you're not too busy." he added.

"Forgive me Sasuke.. Kaiya.. I need to prepare for an ANBU mission... Next time, ok?" He offered with a smile.

The two children pouted, but sat down next to the older boy, swinging their legs, as the sun began to set. "It's probably better that you can't.. My 'kaa-san and 'tou-san will be getting worried about me now.." Kaiya mused. "I should probably go... See you tomorrow Sasuke! Bye Itachi-san!" she said, standing up and grabbing her backpack before walking away with a wave.

"Bye Kai-chan!" Sasuke waved as his friend disappeared around a corner.

"Have you ever got it bad." Itachi smirked, rubbing his little brother's hair. "You'd think a smart girl like that would notice." he continued, "Well, I have to say that you have good taste Sasuke. She's smart, and she's getting better with her jutsus, not to mention she's quite pretty. Can't blame you in the least for being smitten." he teased, "Why I remember my first crush..." he began half-jokingly.

Sasuke briefly wondered if he was really related to Itachi. He had the sort of near-masochistic insanity that was more characterizable in the Hatake clan. "I don't like Kaiya-chan like that," Sasuke scowled, crossing his arms stubbornly. His voice was deceptively disgusted, but his older brother knew better. Giving Sasuke a small smirk, he walked off to scrounge for more sharpening tools.

"I **don't**." Sasuke muttered, mostly to himself.

---

"You're annoying." Sasuke announced as he turned around to face his pink haired teammate. With that sentimental statement, he turned back around and walked away in an annoyed state.

The shocked female could merely watch as her love interest walked away from her. She was drawn from her state of depression by a shout of "Sakura!" and an energetic Natsu running over to her.

"NOOOO! Don't leave me with **him**!" Kaiya wailed, pointing to Kenta.

Natsu merely cackled before dragging a very confused Sakura away.. "C'mon, let's find Naru-kun or Ino-chan!" she exclaimed. "Suuure?" Sakura asked, still shocked at all the events that had happened in a few minutes.

Kaiya glanced wearily at Kenta. "Don't look at me like that!" the boy exclaimed defensively. "I'm going to find Kiba, or someone **normal** to hang out with. If you run into Natsu, just tell her we're meeting at the assigned place." He announced huffily before stomping away.

The black haired Aogiri shook her head, and walked off in the opposite direction as her teammate had gone. Passing food shops, clothing shops, and even the Yamanaka flower shop, she continued looking up at the clouds, and was abruptly brought out of her thinking as she collided with a person. As she landed on the ground, she looked up to find a surprised and annoyed Uchiha looking down at her. She quickly stood up, swatting the dust off of her clothes and she raised her chin up stubbornly. "Uchiha." She greeted.

Sasuke continued to observe the girl for a few moments before he finally spoke, "Aogiri."

"I have to go. Meet the jounin teachers, you know." She said hurriedly, silver eyes never leaving his face, searching for some hint of emotion, or clues about what he felt about the day before. She quickly dragged her eyes away and brushed past him, hurrying down the street towards the place where their new sensei was supposed to meet her and the rest of team nine.

---

Months passed, and Kaiya and Sasuke continued to avoid each other. A night finally came when Kaiya couldn't sleep no matter how much she tried. The silver eyed genin looked up at the ceiling in her room. Finding no new patterns in the ceiling, she turned on her side, her glance falling on a picture of her and Sasuke when they were little, the biggest grins on their faces, and their arms around each other's shouldrs. "_I should really get rid of the picture."_ She thought, and reached out to put it face down. She drew her knees up to her chest, and pulled her blanket tighter around her, closing her eyes and trying to fall asleep.

Finally having enough of the tossing and turning, she sat up and rubbed her eyes.. "..._Might as well go walk around for awhile..._" She thought sighing as she changed from her pajamas into her usual black capris, meshed top, and her red tank top with bandages wound around her chest and stomach over that. She quickly jumped into the tree next to her window, leaping from that onto the ground on which she landed silently.

Sasuke wandered around his room, packing provisions into his backpack. He stopped when he came to the pictures on his bookshelf. One with team seven... he was scowling, Naruto was glaring, Sakura was looking ecstatic, and Kakashi's visible eye was curved, signalling a smile while his hands rested on Naruto and Sasuke's headds. Sasuke looked at the picture wearily before finally turning it face-down. He came to the next picture... one with his family. A dark look crossed his face before he turned that face-down too. The next picture deepend his frown. It was the same picture in Kaiya's room, with the two of them grinning like mad, their arms around each other's shoulders. He quickly turned it over and walked out of his room, slamming the door shut. A satisfied sort of grin appeared on his face as the sound of the door slam echoed through the deserted house.

Kaiya sighed as she walked around Konoha, kicking rocks in the street. She walked onto the Academy bridge and jumped into her faovorite thinking tree, lounging on a branch. She looked up at the sky, observing the full moon. "_Maybe that's the problem..._" she thought, referring to her insomnia, "_It's brighter than usual too..._" She noted, closing her eyes as she began to softly hum a tune. A few minutes later, her humming was interrupted by a girl's desperate voice.

"Why?" it asked, "Why do you always shut me out?! Why don't you ever tell me anything!?"

Kaiya sighed, "Sounds like a breakup..." She whispered to herself as she leaned to the side of the branch to look down. You can imagine her surprise when she saw Sakura and Sasuke. She watched the scene play out. Heard Sakura confess her love for the boy, and saw Sasuke knock the girl out, gently placing her on a nearby bench.

_"He's leaving?_" Kaiya thought, standing up and following Sasuke in the trees as he continued walking off towards the forest.

* * *

AN: meeeep yeah.. I dunno about this chapter -looks at it skeptically- anyway, thanks for taking the time to read this.. I love all you reviewers!! -glomps- xDDD


	4. saying goodbye

AN: Grah... sorry about not updating my stories for awhile now... I've been busy x.X; -curses school- meh. anyway, I promise in the next two chapters, the story will get better and the plot will come together more... -forsees lots of angst and anger in the future- xDD Anyway. I just needed to get the last two chapters out of the way, that way you guys have more background for where the rest of the story's taking place. -forsees another time skip- xD

Thanks to all you reviewers! you totally make writing this story worthwhile! -hands out cookies-

As usuall, I own noooo naruto characterrrrssssss... except for Kaiya... and the plot's mine.. but Natsu and Kenta from the previous chapter are my friend xMendoukusai's..

_

* * *

I found the pieces in my hand...  
__They were always there it just took some time for me to understand  
__You gave me words I just can't say  
__So if nothing else, I'll just hold on while you drift away  
__Cause everything you wanted me to hide is everything that makes me feel alive_

_I've seen the ashes in my heart...  
__I smile the widest when I cry inside and my insides blow apart  
__I tried to wear another face just to make you proud,  
__Just to make you put me in my place  
__But everything you wanted from me is everything that I could never be. _

_Maybe tonight it's gonna be alright, I will get better.  
__Maybe today it's gonna be ok, I will remember...  
__I held the pieces of my soul...  
__I was shattered and I wanted you to come and make me whole  
__Then I saw you yesterday... but you didn't notice  
__You just walked away  
__Cause everything you wanted me to hide is everything that makes me feel alive_

_The cities grow, the river flow  
__Where you are I never know  
__But I'm still here  
__If you were right and I was wrong,  
__Why are you the one who's gone?  
__And I'm still here... _

_The lights go out, the bridges burn  
__Once you're gone you can't return  
__But I'm still here_

_- I'm still here by Vertical Horizon_

Last chapter:

_"...he's leaving?"_ Kaiya thought, standing up and following Sasuke in the trees as he continued walking off towards the forest.

-----

"You can stop following me, Aogiri." Sasuke announced without turning around, after they had gone a-ways into the forest.

Kaiya's body stiffened as she realized he knew she was there. "Where are you going?" she asked, a slightly desperate tone in her voice.

"Nowhere important to you." Sasuke responded as he turned around to face his childhood friend.

"I saw what you did to Sakura." She said quietly.

"Good. Then you'll know what I'll do to you if you don't let me leave."

"What's WRONG with you?" She questioned, tears pricking her eyes, "You've got **FRIENDS** here. People who care about you!"

"You don't get it Kai-chan," he said mockingly, using her childhood nickname. "I'll **never** be like you or the rest of the people in the village. But I'm sure you heard my explanation to Sakura about that already."

Kaiya shook her head, "You're smarter than that. Anyone can change with time. You're **choosing** not to be like us. Sasuke, if this has anything to do with the past...I'm sorry! I'm sorry you lost your family! I'm sorry about everything." She said, previously unshed tears spilling out.

His expression darkened as her tears became visible to him, "Why are you crying? Don't flatter yourself. This has nothing to do with anything from my past concerning you. All I want is power to kill Itachi; power to avenge my clan."

She stiffened as though she had been slapped, "Please Sasuke... come back to the village..." She said quietly.

Sasuke stared at the girl, disdainfully, though in truth his heart was hammering at a fast pace.. "Why? So I can stay at the same level I am now?"

Kaiya shook her head, "You don't get it...Power isn't everything. There's more to life than revenge."

"Tch, maybe to you." Sasuke grunted, "It's possible I thought this way at some point, but that old me died with the rest of my clan."

Her silver eyes widened in surprise. How could he say something like that so easily and without remorse? Her voice echoing through the empty forest as she cried, "Do you even know what you're **saying**?" tears spilling out as she jumped onto his branch and attempted to slap him.

He easily caught her wrist and looked down at her, seeing her silver eyes wet with tears, "Kaiya. Give it up."

"I'm not going back until you come with me!" she declared stubbornly.

"I'm not going back until I kill Itachi. And in order to do that, I need power." Sasuke explained patiently as though he was speaking to a seven year old.

Kaiya spat on him, causing him to flinch slightly. "Bastard. You're so egocentric! What about Naruto! And Sakura!"

"Go back to the village." Sasuke said simply, throwing her wrist to the side, his voice as emotionless as his eyes as he ran forward, leaving Kaiya standing there.

The stubborn girl knawed on her lip for a moment before taking off after him, finally catching up to him and barring his way.

The Uchiha frowned impatiently, "Kaiya, get out of my way."

"No." She replied simply, silver eyes flashing, but still clouded in tears.

"Move." He tried again, emphasizing his point by trying to push her out of the way.

"NO." Kaiya repeated, pushing him backwards.

Sasuke growled in frusteration, "Damn it, get out of my way Kaiya!" he said pushing her against the tree and pinning her there with his arms.

Kaiya pushed against his arms, trying to work free, "Let go of me!" she cried indignantly.

"Listen to what I have to say first!" Sasuke demanded, waiting until she calmed down enough to act reasonably. Red met silver and Kaiya gasped in surprise at seeing his sharingan active... "I'm leaving, and you can't change that." he continued calmly, ignoring her surprise, "And you can't stop me. But maybe...after I kill Itachi...maybe I'll be back." He said, looking even unsure of himself.

Kaiya continued to stare into his red eyes, her steady, clouded gaze beginning to unnerve the Uchiha.

Disgruntled, he pulled away, creating more space between them. "Got it?" he questioned to make sure she even heard him.

The raven-haired girl shook her head, her silver eyes regaining their clarity as she quickly reined her emotions back under control. "I don't think I ever will Sasuke... I think you're making a big mistake."

Sasuke gave a simple 'hn' in response, standing still for a minute as though he was having an inner confict. Truth be told, he was deciding whether or not he should knock Kaiya out like he did with Sakura. It would be much easier than having to deal with her trying to stop him. Finally coming to a conclusion, he leapt from the branch, moving forward at a fast pace, leaving his childhood friend behind.

---

"BEST FRIENDS FOREVER!" Kaiya and Sasuke shouted in unison, grinning wildly at their mothers' cameras.

Minami chuckled, "You guys certainly make quite the pair."

Mikoto nodded, "Hopefully the Academy will be ready for such a dynamic duo." she grinned, tweaking her son's nose playfully, causing him to scowl and hiss, "Mooom..."

"Sorry, sorry." Mikoto smiled down at her son.

"You two better get going. It seems like the bell's about to ring..."Minami said, giving her daughter a small push.

"Ok! C'mon Kai-chan!" Sasuke said, "Race ya!"

"I can run from Suna and back faster than you can get to the building." Kaiya boasted matter-of-factly.

A frown tugged Sasuke's mouth before an idea hit him. "Hey! Look over there!" he said, pointing in the opposite direction.

"Huh?" Kaiya asked, turning around. "But there's nothing there..." she said before turning around to find Sasuke already halfway to the Academy entrance. "HEY! NO FAIR!!" she shouted, running to catch up with him.

"BLEEHHHHHH!" Sasuke smirked, turning around and sticking his tongue out at the girl playfully as he ran into a pole. "Ow..." he complained, landing on his back and rubbing his nose where his head had collided with the metal.

"Are you ok Sasuke-chan?" Kaiya asked, coming to a stop next to him and sitting down as the bell rang.

"Yeah..." He said, still clutching his nose.

"Move your hand..." She instructed, trying to get a better look at his injury.

"Go to class, Kai-chan. I'll come in a minute; the bell rang." he said, observing the girl as he moved his hands away from her nose.

Kaiya shook her head, "But I'm your friend and friends don't leave each other behind." She said matter-of-factly before standing up and offering the boy her hand so he could do the same.

Sasuke stared at his friend's hand for a moment before taking it and letting her help pull him up.

"Friends forever?" she asked grinning, still clutching his hand, as though they were making a pact or promise.

"_Best _friends forever." Sasuke corrected, poking his companion in the forehead with his other hand, a devious grin playing across his face before he released his hand from hers and ran into the Academy building, Kaiya running close behind him.

---

Sasuke stopped a few branches ahead of where Kaiya was still standing and glanced back. Partly to make sure she wasn't following him, and partly because he felt he needed to...maybe just to put a picture of her in his mind. The kunoichi stood in the same spot as where he had left her, watching him retreat, her tears staining the tree branch. Satisfied that she wasn't going to try and stop him, he quickly turned back around before he changed his mind and decided to stay. With another quick glance back, he took off running through the trees.

She let him go, against her better judgement, she watched him until he faded into the trees. Assured that he was gone, she allowed her legs to collapse beneath her as she fell to her knees on the rough bark of the tree branch. "Sasuke..." She murmured his name like a prayer, tears still falling from her eyes, as she finally released all the emotion she had been holding inside. Her sobs echoed throughout the empty forest, until she finally wore herself out and fell asleep under the light of the full moon.

* * *

Reviews are appreciated... and criticism.. **constructive** criticism.. : ) 


	5. years later

Authors Note: Hey guys! long time no update huh? I'm really sorry about that again! -curses school and finals and extracurricular activities- but here it is finally; chapter five to this fic.. xD Chapter 6 should be along shortly too once I find my inspiration for the next chapter.. and yes, there's definitely a time skip in here. Yay for time skips!

* * *

_Your eyes  
as we said our goodbyes  
can't get them out of my mind  
and I find I can't hide  
from your eyes  
the ones that took me by surprise  
the night you came into my life  
where there's moonlight I see your eyes  
How'd I let you slip away when i'm longing so to hold you  
now i die for one more day  
cause there's something I should've told you  
yes there's something I should've told you  
When I looked into your eyes  
why does distance make us wise?  
you were the song all along  
and before the song dies  
I should tell you  
I should tell you  
I have always loved you  
You can see it my eyes.  
__-your eyes from rent_

After his encounter with the sound four, Sasuke sat on the tree branch, mulling everything over. To leave everything behind, and be regarded as a traitor to the village for the rest of his life almost seemed worth the promise of power and ability to avenge his clan. Almost.

Frustrated, he put his head into his hands in an effort to think more clearly. Minutes passed like hours, but finally his head rose, and Sasuke's eyes burned with resolve. He was leaving.

Returning to his house, he gathered only the necessities before heading out, past the rows of houses and shops, passing right under the windows of the Aogiri household, with only a look up to acknowledge it, continuing through the streets of Konoha, past the Academy. As he trudged through the village, he couldn't control the flow of memories running through his head. From when he was younger, full of smiles and training to be a ninja inside the shadow of his brother to the missions he completed while on Team Seven.

As his resolve was weakening, Sasuke's sentimental reminiscing was suddenly bombarded by the bitter memories of his rivalry with Naruto and the slaughter of his clan. As these images flashed through his mind, painful emotions were awakened, and it was then when he saw Sakura walking towards him, a look on her face resembling that of a lost puppy.

Words were exchanged, and Sasuke became distracted as he felt a familiar chakra energy nearby. Growing increasingly impatient as each second passed, he opted to continue walking past her, only stopping when she threatened to scream if he left. Seeing the only possible way for him to leave quietly was to knock Sakura unconscious, Sasuke prepared to do just that. He was taken aback when Sakura confessed her love for him. Of course he was aware she had an obsession with him; he'd have had to be blind to miss it. However, there was a big difference and a rather thick line between love and obsession. He stared scrutinizingly at his pink-haired comrade, trying to discern her sincerity, before taking the chance of looking at her emerald eyes.

He could see the tears falling down her cheeks, the image plastered in his mind even as he quickly moved behind her. He offered only three words of consolation, "Thank you Sakura.." feeling only a small twinge of guilt as he knocked the girl out and set her down on the bench next to them. _Thank you for caring..._ he completed the sentence in his mind.

Still aware of the nearby observer, the dark haired Uchiha decided it was best to continue on his journey, acting as though he didn't notice said person until they revealed themselves. As he got farther into the forest, he realized who his persistent tracker was. "You can stop following me, Aogiri." he spoke up finally without turning around.

He felt the person stiffen and heard her step out from behind a tree trunk. Smirking at his own accuracy, the Uchiha turned around to face his childhood friend when he heard her voice ask why he was leaving. Not missing the undertone of disparity in her voice, he marveled that she still cared about him even though she professed that she thought he was no better than the dirt under her feet.

His traitorous heart skipped a beat as he saw tears spilling from Kaiya's eyes, reminding him of how much he always used to hate to see her cry. Quickly silencing this softer side of him, he continued to push her away from him, trying to sever this bond.

Despite his resolve, Sasuke couldn't help but flinch as the silver-eyed girl spat on him. He may have deserved it, but the Uchiha pride flared and he had to restrain himself from hitting the girl in front of him. Instead, he chose to toss her wrist aside and go back to traveling to meet the sound four. He looked up to see his way again barred by the persistent girl. Feeling his temper ignite again, he tried to push her aside, which only served to have her push him back. His sharingan activated; caused by the stress his body was feeling as he pushed Kaiya back against a tree trunk, pinning her there so she couldn't try and stop him.

Waiting for her to calm down and stop struggling while he lectured her, he couldn't help but notice the differences in the young Aogiri, seeing her for the first time as someone besides a rival or a friend. For reasons even unclear to himself, Sasuke had a sudden urge to press his lips against hers and forget about Orochimaru and his past. Quickly squashing this urge, he released her and took a step away to put more distance between them.

He had to leave quickly before he lost his nerve. With a fleeting look back he ran off, but stopped a few branches ahead. He turned around again, before running away again. And it was then that he realized that all those years of avoiding Kaiya, he had been too afraid to show his vulnerable side to her. He subconsciously took the easiest way out; running away.

* * *

"_Who _released you?" A young female chuunin questioned, a confused expression on her face, unsure that she had heard the convict in front of her right. 

"Uchiha Sasuke." The convict repeated patiently, a rather amused and smug expression on his face as he watched the bewildered kunoichi gape at him. "He killed Orochimaru and freed all of us at the eastern base."

"Aogiri-sama?" one of the other chuunin ventured, a questioning look in his eye.

She blinked, trying to recover her resolve. _It's been a long time since I heard that name..._ she told herself. Three years had passed since the fateful night of Sasuke's leaving, and in those three years, the familiar faces of the Genin 12 had changed. All had matured, and risen in rank and even Kaiya was well on her way to becoming a jounin.

"Ai, ai! You know Uchiha-sama don't you?" The convict grinned slyly, and Kaiya cringed as she could practically see tongue flickering out like a snake's to fit in with his expression.

Huffing indignantly, the black haired girl crossed her arms and turned her head, "Of course I know Uchiha, he **is** a criminal from my village after all."

"Well here's a tidbit of information for one of his old acquaintances.." The convict said, the same sly expression on his face, "Uchiha-sama's gathering a group of S-class shinobi around him; one of the seven swordsmen of the mist, a girl with a knack for finding anyone anywhere, and a man with violent killing urges. And he's on the hunt for Uchiha Itachi."

"You think this is news to Konoha?" Kaiya said, crossing her arms in an impatient manner although the news was, in fact, new to her.

"Whatever you say kunoichi-san.." The man said bowing mockingly, "By your leave..." he said before disappearing in a poof of smoke causing all the chuunin of the group to start in surprise. "Should we go after him?" A younger female asked Kaiya who shook her head.

"Send a messenger bird ahead to Konoha relaying the information we've learned." she replied.

* * *

"You sure about this Sasuke?" Suigetsu, a pale aqua haired and eyed man asked, a feral smile splayed across his features. He really didn't know why he put up with this brat who thought he was the leader. Just because he defeated orochimaru, his ego was bigger than ever. Honestly, kids these days. 

"Hn." Was Sasuke's characteristic reply as a black haired girl with glasses turned to scold Suigetsu. "Don't pester Sasuke-kun! Of course he knows what he's doing you fish!"

"Of course you think that Karin - in your eyes Sasuke can do no wrong." Suigetsu replied with an impatient sigh. It was times like these that he almost pitied the Uchiha and his curse to attract obsessive fangirls.

As Karin was about to hurl a retort back, a tall man with spiky hair leaned his head out to peer at the arguing duo with Sasuke stuck in the middle, "Will the two of you shut up?!" he growled menacingly.

In response Suigetsu shrugged as Karin pushed her glasses farther up her nose with her middle finger.

"Subtle Karin real subtle." Juugo barked before turning around and clutching his head to prevent the spread of his anger.

Staring straight ahead, Sasuke paid his companions no more attention as he kept his mind focused on one idea and one idea only. His plan to avenge his clan. He was pulled out of his trance like state by Suigetsu calling his name, "Oi Sasuke!" The dark haired boy shifted his onyx gaze to the man next to him. "What?"

"We've got some shinobi on our trail; Konoha from their formation and smell. Probably on surveillance."

Nodding as he felt the forces of the chakra a few meters behind his group, Sasuke spoke, "Let them follow us; if they become a problem we'll deal with them then."

Suigetsu scowled, "Tch. Still as soft as ever."

* * *

sorry it's short this time guys -wrote this in a hurry- thanks again to all you AMAZING reviewers. You're totally my reason for continueing this! 


	6. the battle

_Authors note:_ hey guys! here's the next chapter. Soo this one's pretty angsty.. and stuff.. I'll try and make the next chapter less serious and a little more comical..

enjooooooy (and you guys should totally leave comments xD)

* * *

But now it's over  
We're out of time and I can't breathe  
I told you not to believe in me  
Cause all I do is push you far away from me  
All I do is push you far away from me  
I gotta make this work  
I'm gonna take everything wrong with me  
I'm gonna prove you wrong  
Will I meet you in another life ever again  
And I'm coming back around again  
Coming back over again  
Coming back around again  
But now it's over  
We're out of time and I can't breathe  
I told you not to believe in me  
Cause all I do is push you far away from me  
All I do is push you far away from me  
I never had the gift of holding onto you  
Awkward last words – Armor for Sleep

* * *

"They're getting closer." Juugo's voice rumbled through the silence that the group had become accustomed to.

"And they're going to keep getting closer and bolder because Sasuke won't allow us to do anything about it." Suigetsu added matter-of-factly.

"Three more joined them..." Juugo announced in a gravelly voice.

"Well of course we all felt **that**!" Karin said shrilly. "You two need to calm down! Sasuke-kun knows what he's doing!" she stepped closer to the Uchiha grinning slyly, "Isn't that right Sasuke-kun?" she said seductively.

Sasuke stepped away from the girl with a trace of a grimace on his face, "Our priority is to find Itachi... when we kill him, we can take care of the Konoha nin."

* * *

"Your brother's following us..." Kisame noted in an almost amused tone of voice.

"As expected." Itachi acknowledged, "And it seems like my foolish little brother's little band of miscreants has a group of shinobi tailing them..."

"Of course." Kisame said adding a long-suffering sigh. "But at least one of those shinobi is the nine tails."

"Every cloud has a silver lining..." Itachi muttered tilting his head upwards to look up at the cloudless blue sky.

* * *

"The targets are coming closer together..." Kiba muttered over the radio system.

"Yeah." Naruto acknowledged a dark look on his face. Why hadn't Itachi or Sasuke done anything? Surely they had at least sensed someone tailing them. Especially after Team Reiko had joined the Konoha group earlier that day.

"Itachi's purposely slowing down...while Sasuke's group seems to be speeding up. They should be right on top of each other in a matter of hours." Sai noted.

"When they meet we'll have to step in." Shino contributed.

"Be cautious about it." Kakashi warned, "We know how to deal with Itachi and Kisame for the most part... but we don't know anything about Sasuke's companions, or even what Sasuke himself has learned."

"Hai." Came the mutual response from the radios before silence lapsed over the group.

* * *

As Sai predicted, not three hours later, Itachi and Sasuke were about to clash when the group of ten shinobi from the hidden leaf village stepped in. Quickly overtaken in their own battles; Sai and Kenta against Sasuke, Kakashi holding back Itachi, Kisame against Hinata and Natsu, Naruto pulled into the battle between Kiba and Juugo, Sakura against Karin, and Shino and Kaiya against Suigetsu, the shinobi had little time to focus on the mission, and were more consumed with fighting for their lives.

A heel kick. Hand seals. The wall crumbling. Back flip. Kunai meeting midair. Clangs of metal against metal. A wave of water. Pushed back into the tree. Bugs covering the sea-creature like opponent. Bugs melting off only to swarm in a puddle of water. Sinking into the ground. Pulling the opponent under. A cut from a sword. Hair coming loose. Pushing back up out of the ground. Water bursting through like a geyser. All of these things registered in the mind of Kaiya as she battled against Suigetsu. Gripping her katana in her right hand, and forming the fire release hand seal, she charged against a torrent of water coming towards her and Shino. Effectively evaporating a hole in the middle, she leapt through, a stream of fire still coming from her mouth. The intensity of the heat pushing him backwards, Suigetsu didn't have the right footing to dodge the sword attack and instead felt the cold metal penetrate his skin, just below his heart.

Looking up from her battle, Kaiya noticed Itachi catch Kakashi in a genjutsu, and survey the battles going on for the few precious seconds it took for his jutsu to take effect. As Kakashi regained consciousness, Itachi looked down before jumping into a tree and turning around to flee. Turning her head to the side, Kaiya saw that Sasuke noticed this too and quickly disarmed Sai and Kenta before following his target.

"Bitch!" The growl from Suigetsu quickly turned Kaiya's attention back to the battle she herself was involved with. Pulling the sword out before disappearing into the ground only to reappear next to Shino, Kaiya gave her teammate a nod and took off after Sasuke and Itachi.

Arriving moments later in a clearing to be greeted with the sounds of metal clashing and grunts from battle, she quickly hopped to the edge of the open area in time to see Sasuke toss the body of his brother against a tree trunk. Before she could gasp, Sasuke was suddenly in front of her, sharingan activated, kunai to her throat, and breathing heavily.

"Sasuke!" The screech rang out through the trees, causing birds to startle and leave their perches. What was he doing? She didn't think he recognized her, but then again, she could be wrong.

Onyx eyes blinking vaguely he looked down at the kunoichi in front of him. Dirt marring her features and blood covering her arms and splattering her loose-hanging hair, she looked like she had lived in the wilderness for days; or else had just gotten out of a hard battle. Judging by the kunai gripped in her two shaking hands and the Konoha forehead protector hanging precariously from her belt loop, he guessed it was the latter. Continuing to survey the chuunin - he had gathered this information by the flak jacket she was wearing - silver eyes caught his attention as he peered more scrutinizingly at her.

"You killed Itachi then?" she asked, nodding in the direction of the body of his brother which was sprawled out on the forest floor. "Do you feel any better about it?"

A twinge of annoyance ran through the last Uchiha has he wondered who this girl was to speak to him in such a manner. Her chakra energy had a familiar texture about it, but it was stronger than any he remembered from his past life in Konoha. Still, he couldn't shake the silver eyes staring accusingly at him. Silver eyes... vaguely some memory prodded at the back of his mind, like a lost song. Kaiya. The name popped into his head. Of course she would try to interfere..."He's not dead yet. Get out of my way so I can finish the job." He growled, attempting to push the unknown opponent out of the way.

Surprisingly sturdy for one as delicate looking as she was, the kunoichi stood her ground. "You think I'm just going to let you get by so you can murder someone? So he killed your clan? Don't you ever remember your 'kaa-san telling you about how you're supposed to forgive?"

"I'm avenging her by killing him. She didn't deserve to die! But Itachi does. Even she should be able to see that as she watches from heaven." Sasuke said with a shrug.

"Have you forgotten your 'kaa-san so much as to remember her this way?!"

Annoyance growing, Sasuke managed to growl a response, "I'll say what I said last time Aogiri. Go back to the village."

Itachi's body gave a shudder as he pushed his arms under him to stand up. "Very good little brother..." he said smirking as he brushed the dirt off of him. "I see you've improved.. But the gap between power remains." His red gaze flickered to the girl standing between him and Sasuke.. "Ah.. Kaiya-chan."

Attention diverted from the familiar kunoichi, Sasuke turned to his brother. "Tch. Itachi. I'll finish you off now." Sasuke drew his kusanagi, gripping it tightly in one hand while Itachi waited calmly.

"Kill me then Sasuke." the older Uchiha said evenly as Sasuke growled and took off at a run towards his older brother, looking him straight in the eyes, and releasing the chidori nagashi. In as much time as it took to blink, Kaiya stood in front of Itachi and Sasuke cursed mentally. _Shit. She isn't the one I want to kill..._ Unable to stop, and with little time to change the course of his sword, he managed to shift it just enough to avoid hitting a vital spot. _She should've stayed out of it..._ he thought passively as the sword came in contact with her.

Driven backwards by the force of impact, she landed against a firm body - Itachi's she guessed - as she felt the sword ripping through her side and numbing the rest of her body. She forced herself to look down and was greeted with the sight of the sword impaling her side and noted that it barely missed a vital spot. Her gaze followed along the sword, eventually coming to where her blood spattered hands clutched at the hilt and Sasuke's own hand. She felt two other pairs of eyes travel to the same location and felt Itachi move as Sasuke's own eyes stayed riveted to the hands clutching his, vaguely noticing Itachi move behind him and press a kunai to his throat. Closing his eyes, his cloudy mind registered that his sharingan had been active during that moment which would be preserved in his mind for that reason. _She should have moved... She shouldn't have interfered..._

"Pull it out Sasuke. Pull the sword out." Itachi's voice ordered. With a quick jerk backwards, Sasuke pulled the sword free, turning away as Kaiya's numbed body hit the ground with a thump. When Sasuke blinked, Itachi had already moved to the top of a tree. "Come and catch me little brother." he taunted.

Struggling to keep her eyes open, Kaiya pushed her hand to her side to try and stem the flow of blood. "...Sasuke..." she murmured before darkness took a hold of her vision.

* * *

"Kaiya! Kaiya!!" Sakura nudged the body of her wounded friend before noticing the blood leaking from between the kunoichi's fingers. Quickly turning her friend onto her side, Sakura removed the girl's hand and was greeted with the gruesome slit running through the Kaiya's body. _Shit. I need to get her to a hospital! _Tapping into the radio system, she found that Sai was in range and unwounded and would be able to take Kaiya back to Konoha and get her to a hospital.

Not twenty minutes later, the duo was on their way to the village, with Kaiya limp in her teammate's arms, a fever causing her to sweat and writhe, while Sai could only imagine what was going on in the unconscious kunoichi's mind.

* * *

"Kaiya-imouto-chan!" Itachi greeted cheerfully. Kaiya opened her eyes to find herself in what appeared to be the past, although her mind couldn't remember a moment like this as Itachi grinned, ruffling the smaller girl's hair causing her to pout indignantly up at him while she rearranged her hair into its usual ponytail. "Sasuke's in the kitchen with 'kaa-san." he directed, pulling his little sister figure by the elbow. Blinking in confusion, Kaiya complied with his pulling and was led into the kitchen.

"Nii-san, Kaiya-chan! 'Kaa-san just finished making a batch of dango!!!" Sasuke cheered joyfully handing out a plate. As Kaiya glanced at the plate she now held in her hands, the image swiftly transitioned in a swirl of color to watching with Sasuke as Itachi and Fugaku had passed each other without a word, and a tension crackling like electricity in the air. Again, the image switched to Sasuke pouting up at Itachi because he had once again claimed to be too busy to work with him on his and Kaiya's shuriken techniques. Next, Kaiya stood off to the side as a vision of Itachi and Sasuke standing back to back appeared. Itachi wearing his Akatsuki robe, Sasuke in his sound village clothing, and off to the side she could clearly see Itachi staring down at her, an impassive - almost disdainful - look on his face as his sharingan and slashed headband caught her attention. Opposite that picture, Sasuke stood in form she had never witnessed - only heard described by Naruto after the two had clashed in the Valley of the end - gray toned skin, wings like hands, long blue hair, his sharingan also activated, and a crackling black chidori poised in his hand.

As she started to back away helplessly, their words echoing in her ears; Itachi - The Uchiha are feared by all... Don't forget it. ...to test my vessel... - and Sasuke - Itachi is not my brother...But my target! Go back to the village! I'm an avenger! - the haunting images abruptly disappeared and were replaced with Sasuke moving at a speed too fast to change course once started towards Itachi, and without time to think, she had suddenly placed herself between him and Itachi, screaming in pain as Sasuke's sword drove into her side. A flash of blood clouded her vision as the memory faded to darkness, an eerie voice echoing through the silence; **Choose. **

Breathing heavily and sweating, she sat up in bed, and looked around frantically to discern where she was. White walls, white floors, white sheets. A hospital. Slumping back against her pillow she couldn't help but sigh to herself, _Kami...I'm going crazy._

* * *

mahhh... sorrry again guys.. I tried making this one longer... but I guess it didn't work out too well -cringe- so... i'll try again with the next chapter... whiiiiich should be up either this weekend or next week...

thanks again to all you AMAZING reviewers. You make my world go round : )


	7. hospital days

Authors Note: Yeah.. this chapter's more like a 'filler' chapter... because it's not really relevant to the plot.. I just wrote it to make things a bit lighter instead of all angst filled. xD

Disclaimer: I don't own any naruto characters besides Kaiya. And Team Reiko members Reiko, Natsu, and Kenta belong to my friend Renodori (formerly xMendoukusai)

Thanks again to all you AMAZING reviewers!!!

* * *

_I will always be your friend  
__I know who you are inside  
__I am with you till the end  
__never far behind  
__I am standing in the distance  
__you can take your time  
__and I will be here waiting, never far behind  
__yeah, never far behind. _

_I am sending you a message  
__don't ever think that it's too late  
__when you care about someone, there is always room for chance  
__you're allowed to make mistakes  
__it's a part of every life  
__I don't see you any different  
__The truth is shining in your eyes  
_-Never Far Behind - Aly and Aj

Sasuke rolled his eyes heavenward, cursing his luck at being caught and (literally) dragged back to Konoha. At least he had managed to accomplish part of his goal and engage his brother in a battle. Albeit a short battle since the Konoha bastards had intervened, and both Uchiha men had managed to get their asses thoroughly kicked. Then again the odds had been 8 Konoha shinobi of varying skill levels and jutsu techniques against two Uchiha prodigies, both of the latter being significantly wounded by each other. Of course, even in the state he was in, Itachi had managed to escape as soon as he saw the battle turning in favor of the Konoha shinobi.

And thus Sasuke had wound up in his current predicament; bound tightly with chakra strings to a hospital bed and forced to endure the scoldings of Sakura and leeching of Ino, who ironically happened to be his nurses. Another pleasurable aspect of his stay in the hospital room was being able to hear tidbits of gossip drifting in through the window conveniently located next to his bed. Most of the conversations centering about the "Uchiha bastard" being caught and detained finally, and placing bets on what his punishment would be.

Grimly, Sasuke thought that maybe he should have asked the sadistic Tsunade who he blamed for his wonderful hospital experience to be his teacher instead of the worthless snake. (The latter being the cause he had been forced to defend against by locking himself in his room for hours on end for fear of being molested).

After asking about the condition of his teammates, to say that he was upset would be an understatement. Burning with fury after learning about the deaths of Suigetsu and Juugo and finding out he was still stuck with Karin, Sasuke fumed for days before dryly observing that karma was a bitch.

* * *

"You're kidding. You're going to let him OUT of the hospital?" Naruto fumed to the hokage. "He's just going to try and escape the moment he steps out of that building!" 

Tsunade stood up and slammed her hands on the desk in front of her, "Do you question my judgment Uzumaki Naruto?!"

Pouting, Naruto nodded his head.

Glaring, Tsunade prepared a rather vulgar retort before she was pushed down by Shizune. The cropped-haired woman turned to Naruto and reassured him, "We're assigning an ANBU squad for the specific task of watching his every move."

"Fine." The blonde huffed, crossing his arms... well... crossly. (yay word plays!) "But don't come crying to me when he just runs off again, dattebayo!"

"You don't have to worry about that!!!!!" The hokage growled.

"Ano, Ano! What Tsunade-sama means is that---"

"I know what I meant Shizune!" Tsunade barked before turning back to Naruto in a more calmly manner. "Sasuke won't leave."

"Whatever you say obaa-chan..." Naruto shrugged before grinning widely and running out of the door before Tsunade could toss her sake cup at him for calling her old.

* * *

"Kaiya-chan!" Sakura wailed when she saw that her other patient was standing up and pacing around in her room. "You're supposed to sit down!" she ordered. "You're not healed yet." 

"I'm fiiiiiineee!" Kaiya whined pointing to her side for emphasis.

"Nooo you're not!" Sakura insisted.

"Yes I am!" Kaiya stuck her tongue out before resignedly flopping back onto her bed. "I don't see the point of this..."

"We have to make sure your wound doesn't get infected." Sakura said matter-of-factly before changing her friend's bandage.

"If it hasn't gotten infected by now, then it never will!" Kaiya said determinedly. "Besides... My roommate frightens me!" she said in a conspiratorial tone, nudging her head in the direction of the red-haired girl in the bed on the opposite side of the room.

Sakura sweatdropped, "Well...it was her or Sasuke-kun..." she whispered back.

A screech of "SASUKE-KUN! HOW IS HEEEEE?" caused both girls to cringe and turn towards the girl who was struggling with the chakra strings that kept her secured to the bed.

"He's fine." Sakura reassured the girl, dead-panning.

"For now." Kaiya cackled, an evil glint in her eye.

"YOU BETTER NOT DO ANYTHING TO SASUKE-KUN!" Karin shouted, attempting to point threateningly at Kaiya.

Kaiya merely stuck her tongue out, while Sasuke on the other side of the wall cringed at the shrill tone of his team mate's voice.

Sakura turned back to Kaiya and whispered sympathetically, "I'll try and get you a different hospital room... But you're going to be released tomorrow, so I don't really see the point..."

"Just get me out of here!" Kaiya wailed dramatically, "I can feel myself losing IQ points just _listening_ to her."

"Fine, fine..." Sakura said tapping her chin thoughtfully... "Now that I think about it... I'm pretty positive we have an extra room upstairs..."

"PERFECT." Kaiya exclaimed excitedly, about to jump up in the air with joy before Sakura firmly placed her hands on Kaiya's shoulders, keeping the girl rooted to the ground.

"You're going to tear open your wound if you do that." Sakura dead-panned. "Just wait here and I'll make sure that I'm right about the empty room..."

A few minutes later, Kaiya was practically skipping down the halls and into her new private room. "Sakura-chan, you're the best!" she exclaimed tackling her friend with a hug before flopping contentedly onto the hospital bed.

"Mah, it was the least I could do... I don't see how Sasuke puts up with her..." Sakura muttered rubbing her temples for emphasis.

"Probably the same way he put up with Naruto... Only less angsty rivalry." Kaiya grinned. "Ja Ne Sakura-chan!"

"Ja!" Sakura waved before sliding the door shut.

_Finally alone._ Kaiya thought to herself before relaxing into the pillow and looking up at the ceiling in search of patterns that would take her mind off of things.

* * *

Natsu skipped in a circle around her sensei and Kenta, "Weee caught Uchihaaaa, we caught Uchihaaaaaaaa!" she chanted happily before grabbing Kenta's arms and twirling him in a circle with her. 

"NATSU!" Kenta growled as he became increasingly dizzy and flopped to the ground when she released him.

"Rei-sensei!!" Natsu squealed grabbing her rather drunken sensei by her arms.

"N-Natsu! If you twirl me in a circle like you did with Kenta, I can guarantee that the sushi I had at the sake bar will end up on your shirt." Reiko slurred.

Pouting the brunette released her sensei. "I can't believe you got _hammered_ in celebration for Uchiha-teme's capture. I mean, you could have thrown a party or something, but noooo, you had to go get _drunk_."

"If I could see straight, I'd order you to do some gruesome chores for punishment but I can't think of any right now..."

"Yosh for drunk Rei-sensei!" Natsu exclaimed, pumping her fist into the air enthusiastically.

"Stop yelling!" Reiko complained, already feeling the effects of the alcohol.

"And this is why you shouldn't drink." Kenta said matter-of-factly.

"Can it shrimp." Reiko grumbled. "Just wait until you're my age... Then we'll see who doesn't drink."

Kenta stuck his tongue out defiantly only to be bopped on the head by Reiko's swinging fist.

"Mah. I miss Kaiya-chan." Natsu whined, "She's usually the voice of reason."

"HAHA! YOSH FOR NO KAIYA!" Kenta cackled only to be hit again by Natsu. "Why do you guys always hit mee?" he complained, rubbing the two bumps forming on his head.

"Because you're a pain in the ass." Natsu answered confidently.

"Says the biggest pain in the ass in the village after Naruto." Kenta retorted.

"Will both of you stop arguing?" Reiko complained hitting both of her students over the head.

"I'm leaving before I get _brain damage_." Kenta announced before poofing away to Kami knows where.

"What's his problem?" Natsu asked to no one in particular.

Reiko dead-panned. "Do you really need to ask? Anyway I'm leaving too... You're giving me a headache."

"That's the alcohol!" Natsu said cheerfully.

"...Sure kid." Reiko groaned before poofing away.. probably back to the sake bar.

"Waaaait. Now I'm alone." Natsu pouted, kicking a rock. "I know! I'll go find Naru-chan! He's probably at the ramen stand anyway..."

Sure enough, there Naruto sat, warily focusing on the dark haired figure walking across the street with a red-head practically clinging to him. "Granny Tsunade doesn't know what she got herself into..." he told himself slurping a noodle half-heartedly.

"NARU-CHAN!!!" Natsu called happily as she sat next to her blonde friend, spinning the chair around excitedly, "Five miso-ramens please!" she told the stand owner.

"How come you don't get fat from eating that much ramen?" Naruto asked Natsu, poking her.

"Because Rei-sensei works us half to death every day." She said cheerfully as the ramen appeared in front of her. "So why are you so...mopey today?" she asked pausing to think of the world.

"Granny Tsunade let Sasuke-teme out of the hospital so now he's walking around as free as a bird. Well...except for the 6 ANBU watching his every move." Naruto said matter-of-factly, slurping another noodle.

Stopping mid-slurp, Natsu turned to look at her friend in surprise, noodle still hanging out of her mouth, she said, "OH. That's what everyone was talking about in the streets today!"

Naruto nodded, "It makes me want to hit that bastard... He got off too easily.. no punishment at all."

"Mah.. I wouldn't worry about it." Natsu said shrugging, "I'm sure Kaiya-chan's thought up some diabolical scheme to punish him... She's frightening like that."

Naruto patted his friend's back sympathetically.

* * *

"No...that's too nice." Kaiya said tapping her chin, rejecting her 30th idea. "hmmm... maybe having only that Karin person for company is punishment enough..." she mused aloud. 

Frustrated, she turned over and buried her head in a pillow. "...It's too troublesome to think of a punishment that's good enough..." her muffled voice announced. Turning on her side to breathe, she sat up suddenly. "AHA! I'm thinking... Naruto, Ramen, Karin, AND Natsu!!!!! And the sacrifices of many tomatoes." She cackled for a minute before deeming that plan lame as well.

"...Maybe I should just give it up..." she said quietly. "Besides, it's not like he has any emotions or anything that would make him annoyed." she said more confidently. "He's like a walking statue! His expression doesn't even change!" She flopped back, expecting her head to hit the soft pillow and instead connecting with the hard hospital wall with a solid 'thunk'. "Owwwww!" she complained, rubbing the bump. "Now Sakura-chan's gonna get made at me and fuss like I have a concussion..."

"Maybe a concussion will work! Nah... He's too thick-headed for it to do anything." sighing defeatedly, she sat back again, this time making sure it was her pillow that her head landed on. "It's really a shame..." she said thoughtfully. "If he smiled more, or at least showed some emotion, maybe he'd be more bearable..." she said, mentally slapping herself for thinking about him being attractive in any way. "And less ugly! And repulsive!" she added in reparation in a matter-of-fact tone.

* * *

Authors note: Like I said.. filler chapter xDDDD (like how for some reason the animes enjoy making filler episodes... I waited SO LONG for the Naruto fillers to end. But I guess I can see why they do it -cringe- xD) Next chapter will be all angsty again just as a heads up. Woot angsty-ness! xD

anyway... Ja Ne see you later.. and Ja is the reponse to that... just so you know. xD

teme bastard

obaa-chan granny

and yeah. xD reviews are nice : D


	8. tomatos on the wall

Authors note: omg. I'm so increadibly sorry you guys! I've had a serious case of writers block because my plot bunnies deserted me -wailsobcry- xD

but here's chapter 8, and it's dedicted to Luna.The.Betrayed.Ninja because she always reviews and thus makes me motiviated XDDDDD And plus her stories are hilarious (so you should go read them), aaaaand the punishment of sasuke in this chapter was her brilliantly amazingly amazing idea xD

_

* * *

_

_You used to talk to me like I was the only one around  
__you used to lean on me, the only other choice was falling down  
__you used to walk with me like we had no where we needed to go  
__nice and slow, to no place in particular  
__we used to have this figured out  
__we used to breathe without a doubt  
__the nights were clear, you were the first star that I'd see  
__we used to have this under control, never thought we used to know  
__at least there's you, and at leas there's me  
__can we get this back, can we get this back  
__to how it used to be?  
__I used to reach for you when I got lost along the way  
__I used to listen, you always had the just right thing to say  
__I used to follow you, never really cared where we would go  
__fast or slow, to anywhere at all_

* * *

"It's never going to work." Hinata sweatdropped.

"it WILL!" Kaiya replied determinedly.

Hinata shrugged but continued, "I-I don't see how sacrificing tomatoes while having him watch a slideshow of Orochimaru molesting him is going to faze Sasuke-san."

"And **that**, my friend, is your downfall!" Kaiya cackled, "You have no imagination! Just watch my brilliant plan succeed!"

Shaking her head as her friend poofed away to rejoin civilization out of the hospital, Hinata retreated back into the hospital wondering if Kaiya had suffered a certain amount of brain damage.

* * *

"Oh honestly Sasuke!" Karin huffed, walking next to the black haired boy who caused such a commotion when he passed by a group of people. "I don't see why you insist on taking side routes around Konoha! If you're looking for something in particular, you know you can just tell me and I'll find it for you." she continued in a matter-of-fact tone of voice.

"Will you shut up?" Sasuke muttered staring ahead resolutely instead of paying any kind of attention to the groups of gossipers whose loud whispers still seemed to reach his ears.

"Well fine then." Karin said before relapsing into a pouty silence. Unable to withstand the silence any longer, the red-head turned to her companion, "Where are we _going_ anyway?"

"The compound." he answered simply.

"What compound?" she questioned, her curiosity getting the better of her.

Sasuke flashed her a look that clearly said 'why did I pick you for my team again?' before clarifying, "The Uchiha compound."

"It's not filled with cats is it?" Karin asked, cringing at the thought of having the demon animals staring accusingly at her through the dark.

"It could be filled with anything for all I know; it's supposedly been vacant for about three years." Sasuke shrugged. He vaguely recalled Tsunade telling him something about a group of his old acquaintances avidly protesting the selling of the Uchiha property and the possibility of making the compound into a museum. He supposed he should probably thank them or something useless like that. Luckily for him it would be so against his nature for the 'Ice King' Uchiha to actually thank someone that no one expected anything of the sort from him. Except maybe Naruto. But then again, Naruto always was a moron. Finished with his musings to himself, Sasuke turned his attention to the road in front of him, expression darkening as he passed the Aogiri property.

Out of the corner of his eye, he was barely able to see the face of Minami Aogiri peering out the window with a look akin to a parent disappointed in their child, and oddly a twinge of guilt prodded at Sasuke's conscience. Scowling, he dismissed the feeling as indigestion though he had yet to eat that day.

Seeing Sasuke's frown deepen, Karin looked around to find the source of his discomfort. Eyes locking with the dark haired woman peering out the window, she mouth curved downward and she turned to address her black haired companion. "Who's she?"

"Who?" Sasuke asked vaguely.

"Don't be frustrating! The lady who was staring out the window. The reason you started frowning." she retorted.

After considering giving another question for his answer, Sasuke decided to just be blunt and save time. "A friend of my parents." The truth. Not the whole truth, but the truth nonetheless.

"Hm." Karin said, deciding not to press the matter further but not fully convinced that was the whole story.

The duo trudged along in silence until the Uchiha compound came into view. At the sight of the ever-so-familiar gate, a wave a nostalgia washed over Sasuke. He inwardly cursed Konoha for making the emotions he had sealed away for years re-awaken. After all, emotions and bonds only served to hold a person down.

Impervious to her companion's troubles, Karin was busy glancing around the streets of the compound, memorizing streets and houses. She didn't need to of course, but it was better than walking in silence with nothing to occupy herself. She sighed and briefly remembered the face of the woman in the window. She hadn't looked at Sasuke like the rest of the villagers had - with fear and anger - but with a more parental emotion. Disappointment mingled with a hope that his habits will change, she guessed.

The red head chanced a quick glance at Sasuke to see his face as blank as ever, though his eyes scanned the perimeter in an almost paranoid fashion. He must be nervous, Karin observed. She couldn't really blame him... being thrust back into a world he ran away from years ago had to take a toll on someone's psyche.

As though he was reading her thoughts, Sasuke turned to glare at her before turning his attention forwards. He stopped in front of his old house. Steeling himself, he opened the door to be greeted with silence. Just like the night of the slaughter of his family. Pushing that thought out of his mind, Sasuke stepped through the door to be greeted with an odd sight.

Straightening at the sound of the door opening, Kaiya saluted rather sarcastically. "Uchiha."

"What the hell are you doing Aogiri?" He asked, glancing around the room to see it covered with splattered tomatoes and pinups of Orochimaru and himself doing rather...raunchy activities. "And why the hell is this mess in my house?"

Cackling inwardly, Kaiya waved her hand dismissively, "My 'kaa-san sent me over to clean up any mess that was in here, and wouldn't you know it - the house was decorated like this..."

Unimpressed with her explanation, and vaguely under the impression that this was her _own_ doing, Sasuke decided to do what he did best; scowl. "Well then clean it up."

"I've _been_ doing that." Kaiya explained with a mysteriously smug look, "But now you're here so my services are no longer needed." She grinned before attempting to leave. She frowned when Sasuke stepped between her and the door. "Move Uchiha."

"Not until you clean up this mess that _you_ made of _my_ house." He ordered, looking down at the girl.

Damn him for getting so tall. Kaiya glared up at him, "I don't owe you anything Uchiha. If it comes down to that kind of business, _you_ owe _me_."

Sasuke snorted in response, "I owe you for what? Leaving the village? If that's the case then I'm sure I owe the village much more than I owe you."

"You owe me for **this**!" Kaiya exclaimed almost hysterically as she pulled the loose shirt she was wearing up so that the bandage over her side was showing. "_You_ did that." she said in a calmer but still strained voice.

He glanced down at the bandage, not even flinching at her tone of voice. "Hn. Looks like it." was his only response.

"Bastard." she growled, silver eyes flashing with anger, and a glimpse of a deep sadness. "Welcome back to Konoha." Stepping around the raven haired boy, she stepped out the door, slamming it with a ferocity only a kunoichi could muster.

Blinking, Karin looked up at Sasuke, who was scowling like a thunder cloud now. There was definitely something he wasn't telling her about the girl and her family.

* * *

The next day, Kaiya opened her window, blissfully breathing in the fresh morning air. No matter where she traveled on her missions, it couldn't be denied; Konoha always had the best sunrises. She opened her eyes, her gaze greeted with the colorful hues of the early dawn; rosy pinks, lavenders, oranges, and the palest yellows. This was definitely the best way to start off a morning. She grinned before sighing and walking over to her closet and changing into her training clothes - a simple tank top and functional shorts.

The downside to waking up this early was of course, getting ready for Rei-sensei's training sessions. At least the team had had a reprieve from missions with the increase in the number of chuunin after the exam.

Grabbing a flask of water on her way out the door of her house, Kaiya jogged off to the training grounds to meet the rest of her team for their daily 6 hour practice. (**1)** When she reached the destination, she was greeted with a very nostalgic sight; a half-asleep Kenta and a hyperactive Natsu who was jumping up and down because of her coffee intake while Rei-sensei was slumped against a tree, sake bottle in hand. Throughout the years, Kaiya had often wondered why Rei-sensei had even scheduled the practices when she herself was half asleep at this time in the morning.

"OHAAAAAAAAAAYO KAIYA-CHAN!" Natsu greeted loudly, waving frantically at her friend. Her shout had caused Kenta, who was attempting to sleep while leaning against a tree, to jump up in surprise, and fall forward, landing in the ground with a 'plop'! Reiko on the other hand merely waved vaguely before straightening from her slumped position against another tree.

"Right. Down to business then." Reiko slurred. "Three laps around not _through_ the village, and then target practice for about an hour. Then sparring. Chakra control. And then we can go out for ramen." After giving the orders for that day, she sat down beneath the tree with a satisfied 'hmph'.

"B-B-But Rei-sensei!" Natsu began to whine, "Do you _know_ how big the village is? Three laps is gonna take like forever!!!!!!!" she wailed.

Reiko turned her head to glare imperiously at the young chuunin. "Be thankful I'm not Gai and making you run 100."

"Oh god." Kenta's eye twitched. "Shut up Natsu before she raises the number!!!" he hissed, clamping his hand over the brunette's mouth. A few seconds later, he pulled his hand away in disgust, "Did you just _lick_ my hand?" he questioned, eyebrow twitching as he wiped his hand on his pants.

Natsu nodded in affirmation, "And it hurt me a lot more than it hurt you. Don't you ever _wash_ your hands?" She made a face to show her disgust.

A defensive look crossed Kenta's face, "Of course!" he exclaimed.

"Liaaaaar." Kaiya sang with a smug expression on her face.

"Why I outta---" Kenta exclaimed, cracking his knuckles before rounding on his teammate.

"Less talking, more running!" Reiko ordered.

"How can you act so sober when you're that drunk?" Natsu questioned, suddenly hovering next to her sensei's shoulder, poking her.

"It's a talent you'll learn when you're my age... Now run!" Raiko barked again, cackling as the members of her team took off running in fear. "Life is good when you're a jounin." she said matter-of-factly before taking another swig from her sake bottle.

* * *

"ok, ok, ok. Here's the plan guys." Kenta panted in as much of a conspiratorial tone as he could muster after half a lap around the village, "We hop the village wall and cut through the center of town, run out the front gates, camp out by a tree, run back through the front gates after awhile, sprint back to the training grounds so we're panting heavily like we ran the whole time, and Rei-sensei will be none the wiser!" he said triumphantly.

"Don't shout it so loudly!!" Natsu and Kaiya hissed simultaneously, looking around the perimeter in a paranoid fashion. "Rei-sensei hears _everything_, remember?"

Kenta sweatdropped, "Ok, anyway. Let's just hop the wall here."

"Wait a minute!" Kaiya wailed, "Remember what happened when we did this _last_ time?" she reminded in a matter-of-fact tone between pants.

Natsu cringed at the memory. "Yeah! Kaiya's _wanna-be-ephebophile-lover _almost **skewered** us with kunai and shuriken. And then we got dragged to the Hokage's office because he wouldn't believe that we weren't spies from another village using the henge no jutsu. And then Rei-sensei practically killed us with practice because since we were being interrogated, we didn't get back to the training grounds until late afternoon. Plus she found out about what we did."

"Hey, hey, hey!" Kaiya protested, "You make it sound like it was all Kotetsu-san's fault that he's so dutifully protective of the village."

Kenta twitched, "You know he's like 12 years older than you, right?"

"AGE DOES NOT MATTER IN LOVE!" Kaiya shouted determinedly.

"...You can tell that to the ANBU when he gets arrested for _pedophilism_." Natsu said matter-of-factly.

As Kaiya was about to open her mouth to protest her friend's comment, Kenta interrupted, "ANYWAY. Onward with the plan!"

"...Did you not just hear a word of our flashback to last time?" Natsu sweatdropped.

"But if we're _careful_ this time... Then we won't have a problem!" Kenta said determinedly.

"Here's a better idea!" Kaiya announced as she stopped running to catch her breath, "Why don't we just _walk_ the rest of this lap really slowly, and then sprint to the training grounds?"

"SEEE, this is why _she's_ the strategist on the team, and you're not!" Natsu said grinning cheekily as she poked Kenta in the chest.

"hmph." Kenta said, crossing his arms indignantly. "I suppose it is less life-threatening..." he admitted grudgingly.

"Yosh! let's do it then!" Natsu exclaimed cheerfully.

* * *

Back at the Uchiha compound, Sasuke had gotten up early and patrolled his tomato-stained house with a sullen aura radiating from him. Damn her for being so vindictive. He sighed, muttering something vaguely along the lines of "wasted tomatoes and gay porn." Deciding it was better to clean up the mess than leave the aforementioned 'problems' desecrating his house, the Uchiha scrounged through a few closets, finally finding the cleaning tools he needed and began to thoroughly clean the mess that adorned his walls.

Observing from down the hall, Karin decided that it was time she did a little investigating of her own.

* * *

Authors note: sorry again guys, but this might take a little longer to update because I'm working on my drabbles for Ulquiorra/Orihime from bleach (which you should totally check out and review : D) and since there's only 30 challenge themes I want to get that finished as soon as possible... xD

Plus, once again I have no idea where to go with this story (so if you guys have any good plot ideas, please feel free to share them : D) thanks for all your support!


	9. AUTHORS NOTICE

Authors Note:

Hey guys sorry for this huge delay on all of my stories... I've been really busy with community service, leadership camp, etc. But the point of this notice is that I'm putting this story on hiatus because I've been looking at it and I decided to re-do a bunch of chapters so I can make the plot better in the upcoming chapters i've been working on.. The plot just doesn't work with the way I've set up these chapters... sorry! Thanks again to all you reviewers who've really supported this story; it's really been a big motivation. 


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